The Autumn Leaves .....

Jan1 wrote:
What I would like to know is why are these wind type machines used by so many to clear the leaves so noisy? The afternoons peace and quiet (I was actually sitting reading a book and not a blog or Forum) was disturbed by the noise!!!

Can some makes have a silencer fitted I wonder

I think the problem is you can have powerful, or quiet, or cheap, or two out of three.

I had a McCullough strimmer which was knocked up in a shed by Mexicans, that was pretty loud and disintegrated after a few years.

Then I bought a Stihl which was expensive but much quieter and used nearly half as much fuel, but it lasted about 15 years so much more cost effective.

Some of the Council or contractors' machines are much more refined.

chris c wrote:

Jan1 wrote:
What I would like to know is why are these wind type machines used by so many to clear the leaves so noisy? The afternoons peace and quiet (I was actually sitting reading a book and not a blog or Forum) was disturbed by the noise!!!

Can some makes have a silencer fitted I wonder

I think the problem is you can have powerful, or quiet, or cheap, or two out of three.

I had a McCullough strimmer which was knocked up in a shed by Mexicans, that was pretty loud and disintegrated after a few years.

Then I bought a Stihl which was expensive but much quieter and used nearly half as much fuel, but it lasted about 15 years so much more cost effective.

Some of the Council or contractors' machines are much more refined.

Agree about the Stihl strimmers-Had mine about 18 years now and apart from 2 stroke oil,unleaded and strimmer chord-It's cost me nowt in repairs and for servicing I'm still on the original spark plug which I just whip out and clean once a year...Worth the extra initial outlay for sure.

Yes I had mine serviced once when it became hard to start. I decided to ditch it when I pulled the cord and it stayed pulled Since I had some trees down and my hedge out and replaced by chainlink you can actually see through (willow hedges are cute when they are young, not so much when they become six feet high and ten feet wide) I gave away the 4 stroke Ryobi with hedgetrimmer and chainsaw attachments, which was a temperamental POS from the start, and I no longer have enough work to justify a replacement for that or to repair the trusty Stihl. I'll get someone in about once a year. Most of the pro gardeners use Stihl, one has a Homelite which I think has a Fuji Robin engine.

Haha I forgot the only fault I had with the Stihl, the fuel line split so I bought a new one.

The following spring I filled it up and the fuel all ran down the side of the engine. It would have helped if I'd actually *fitted* the new pipe . . .

I also forgot to mention the sky blue (but furry) borage which had flowered once and mostly died but has reseeded and flowered again, and the red/pink valerians in the front garden which I deadheaded after they flowered, which I deadheaded again and which are now flowering for the third time. Strange year . . . but some of the trees are now starting to colour up. Another week or three before it really starts to look like autumn I suspect.

Definite chill in the air autumn is underway in my neck of the woods the hawthorn hedge across the road from me is already fading and dropping leaves, the oak tree leaves are on the turn which will mean a lot of work for me clearing up when they do drop 

It's cold enough here too that I dug out my winter woolly, but sunny. I tend to spread the leaves out over the flowerbeds and let the worms pull them underground along with the compost and manure I also spread. The rest go in the compost for next year. Makes for a useful but not excessive quantity of exercise. My old man used to go out with sacks and a shovel in the car and collect leaves to make "leaf mould". Any gardeners you know who'd collect them for you?

chris c wrote:It's cold enough here too that I dug out my winter woolly, but sunny. I tend to spread the leaves out over the flowerbeds and let the worms pull them underground along with the compost and manure I also spread. The rest go in the compost for next year. Makes for a useful but not excessive quantity of exercise. My old man used to go out with sacks and a shovel in the car and collect leaves to make "leaf mould". Any gardeners you know who'd collect them for you?

I compost some of the leaves the rest I put into the woods to rot away keeps the bluebells and daffodils thriving, don't have flowerbeds anymore given way to shrubs, weed suppressing fabric and chippings are there now. I only have pots for flowers makes life a bit easier  

Our garden was a bit like that when we bought the house. Gradually I've reverted the beds to soil, including taking the edges off the lawn several times - before the houses were built 50 years ago this was farmland and the soil goes down forever. I have a combination of bulbs, annuals which self-seed and perennials including ground cover which needs disciplining every so often, so it's semi-automatic. Same for the shrubs, roses and climbers, every year some of them get cut down to stumps and fed through the shredder.

At the moment there's a really weird combination of autumn berries and spring and summer flowers, topped off by a green woodpecker bouncing across the lawn. Until a couple of years ago they were regular in spring and summer, digging into the ants' nests, now the ants have largely gone it came back.

Finally some of the distant woods are starting to go ginger (oaks) and I had an evening walk up a path trying to get a good view (and listen) to a rook roost, more leaves are changing colour at last but a lot of them are just dropping off still largely green

chris c wrote:At the moment there's a really weird combination of autumn berries and spring and summer flowers, topped off by a green woodpecker bouncing across the lawn. Until a couple of years ago they were regular in spring and summer, digging into the ants' nests, now the ants have largely gone it came back.

I used to be plagued with ants the lawns were full of nests, ant's crawling all over the patio didn't get any assistance from woodpeckers though.

Spectacular birds. I suspect one of the seed eaters warned it about the arterycloggingsaturated ants so it tried eating healthy whole grains and died.

Dunno what happened this year, I saw Ant Flying Day occurring in various places, including the other side of town - you can usually tell when it's on because all kinds of birds including seagulls wheel around catching the ants in flight - but mine never went off either from the lawn or one of the compost bins. Usually the woodpecker turns up when the nests are full of "ants' eggs" - the big ones that turn into the flying ants.

The rat is still around, whenever I go out and hoy rocks at it or shout it runs back into the field. The mole was conspicuous by its absence for a while until I looked out the upstairs window and found it was building a scale model of the Alps on my neighbour's lawn.

Some of the leaves on my donkey tree - local name for the stagshorn sumach - are finally turning, on a good day with the sun behind it it looks like a stained glass window. It's an invasive bugger though, when I pruned it it shot up suckers from all the roots, some of which I suspect are what perforated the pond lining.

... isn't it amazing (and good) that moles do move on

All the best Jan

That be the one! The flowers have a very strange scent, do you remember Froment or Bemax?

My virginia creeper is going over very fast now, still scarlet and crimson but a lot of leaves have already dropped. Many better ones around though.

Finally there's more colour mainly in sycamores and various maples but the most autumn colour is still in berries, a hedge I saw was literally red hot with rose hips lit by the setting sun, but the bulk of trees aren't showing much change yet.

At the same time some of the half hardies I put in the tubs in the front garden after the spring bulbs had finished are springing into life, and some that had already flowered are reflowering. With them and the showers it's more like april than october. Still got a few pairs of goldfinches though, we usually have them in spring and summer, then they return to the wild and eat weed seeds, especially thistles. A friend the other end of the road retains his and sometimes gets siskins as well, I usually just get chaffinches and greenfinches in winter, often in huge quantities. I promised to do a swap with him.

ObExercise, next batch of gardening will be due when the ground dries out a bit. After that the woods may be worth a visit.

There was a "fall" of incoming migrants along the coast and some of them made it this far inland, I had about thirty goldfinches which emptied out the feeders of sunflower hearts, and some of them were on the fennel seedheads though strangely none on the teasels - I've seen them on teasels in the wild but all I had on mine was a couple of blue tits.

I had to go out and refill the feeders and the huge tinkling flock took off into the oak tree - and never returned. I did have a great spotted woodpecker though, another thing I haven't seen recently that used to be regular.

The birches and bracken on the heaths are now colouring up nicely, along with more trees other than the oaks. Still masses of stuff in flower on the sea walls, as in the garden. Currently I have several bunches of autumn crocus and they are also erupting from part of the lawn. Obviously the mice don't like them as much as the spring ones - coming shortly I must order some more bulbs and hope enough of them survive until spring after I've planted them.

Looks like I'll have to do not one but two "big bashes" in the garden and somehow find time for a walk or three in the woods and on some of the heaths if it stays dry for long enough.

chris c wrote:Looks like I'll have to do not one but two "big bashes" in the garden and somehow find time for a walk or three in the woods and on some of the heaths if it stays dry for long enough.

Doubt if I'll get any "big bashes" now Chris the weather has changed and the garden has been abandoned for the time being, it will just be case case of keeping it tidy over the winter.

Well for the moment the Autumn Leaves have been cleared from the floor with one of those loud blower things! The trees are beginning to drop more leaves ... and this little fellow (or it might be his cousin) is still busy.

Eddie posted this photo up previously!


We mustn't forget to alter the clocks - think it may be this weekend. Do we gain an hour in bed  

All the best Jan

Did a major treck round Minsmere today, saw several Marsh Harriers over the reedbeds but next to naff all in the woods where the trees, again mainly oaks, are as un-autumnal as our local ones. There's a bit more colour elsewhere though, cherries in addition to the maples.

I saw and heard some flocks of hundreds of starlings circling, but missed the main "murmuration" which wasn't up for long probably because of the dullness. Big flocks of geese honking and circling into the twilight, and squirrels bringing down the chestnuts, something else mother and I used to go out and gather right back to early childhood. Even the chestnut leaves haven't coloured up much yet.

Horse chestnuts have a disease which makes the leaves go brown and drop early, and we also have ash die-back which is affecting some but not yet all of the ash leaves.

Walked down from the Co-Op through the town, and back along what is popularly known as "Duck Lane" which goes by the river. Still not that much prettiness, the leaves are mostly still green, or brown and fallen off. So far this has been the most uncolourful autumn I can remember.

Jan1 wrote:Well for the moment the Autumn Leaves have been cleared from the floor with one of those loud blower things! The trees are beginning to drop more leaves ... and this little fellow (or it might be his cousin) is still busy.

Eddie posted this photo up previously!

We mustn't forget to alter the clocks - think it may be this weekend. Do we gain an hour in bed  

All the best Jan

O Goodie a STWIRREL as my Granddaughter calls them
Thanks, ill show her

RANDBURG wrote:

Jan1 wrote:Well for the moment the Autumn Leaves have been cleared from the floor with one of those loud blower things! The trees are beginning to drop more leaves ... and this little fellow (or it might be his cousin) is still busy.

Eddie posted this photo up previously!

We mustn't forget to alter the clocks - think it may be this weekend. Do we gain an hour in bed  

All the best Jan

O Goodie a STWIRREL as my Granddaughter calls them
Thanks, ill show her

Ah ... STWIRREL's that's great

All the best Jan

And here are two of our grandchildren helping to clear up those 'pesky' Autumn Leaves ... well they had hidden the Garden Fairy's door

You can read more about that here
http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/family-fun-fairies-and-low-carb-fruit.html

All the best Jan

I think what has happened here is that the autumn leaves have changed colour and dropped over a long period, one species at a time, rather then everything going colourful at once. We've had some more effect from the maples and hawthorns in the hedges, followed by the elms and beeches, but the oaks are only just now turning from green to ginger. Probably after this blow I'll be inundated with oak leaves from the trees out the back and across the fields. I may have to employ some of the neighbours' kids and grandkids to clear out my back passage and put the leaves into the compost bins. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, Officer.

My gardens are full of bloody leaves  and with the rain and high winds they wont be cleared up any time soon

Even the wood pigeon had trouble in our trees, the remaining leaves and branches were proving quite 'bumpy' in our present higher winds. It's feathers were getting very ruffled!

These next details courtesy of the RSPB
"The UK's largest and commonest pigeon, it is largely grey with a white neck patch and white wing patches, clearly visible in flight. Although shy in the countryside it can be tame and approachable in towns and cities. Its cooing call is a familiar sound in woodlands as is the loud clatter of its wings when it flies away."

... anyway good luck to all when the wind dies down and the garden clear-ups begin again    

All the best Jan

I've been walking more since Autumn arrived. I just love the smell of the damp hedgerow, and the sound of drippling water from wet trees. And the colours are superb this year.

As a rule though, my exercise (for its own sake) is virtually non-existent. I do walk whenever I can, and I spend as much time in my garden as possible. I also indulge in hand-tool woodworking. Let me tell you folks, hand-planing a chunk of 12 inch by 2 inch rough timber is a great workout.

Years ago now, I came to the conclusion that running and physical jerks is for the birds. (Well no it isn't actually, because you don't see mature, wild creatures indulging in excessive movement, unless it's to gather food or flee a predator.)

I am 76 BTW, and beginning to feel my old self again.  

Incidentally Jan. Was it your good self who posted a recipe for meat-balls and tomato sauce? I think it was. Delish! Thank you.

Cheers
Wobbly